Beekeepers Los Angeles

Beekeeper Rob McFarland (photographed this past year) inspects the beehive he keeps on the roof of their l . a . house. The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday allowing residents to help keep beehives inside their backyards. Damian Dovarganes/AP conceal caption

toggle captionDamian Dovarganes/AP

Beekeeper Rob McFarland (photographed a year ago) inspects the beehive he keeps on top of their Los Angeles residence. The l . a . City Council voted unanimously on Wednesday allowing residents to keep beehives within their backyards.

Damian Dovarganes/AP

Overturning a 136-year-old ban, the la City Council voted on Wednesday to legalize urban beekeeping.

When the regulation is signed because of the mayor, l . a . will join towns including New York, San Francisco and Washington in allowing beekeeping. There clearly was also a beehive regarding the White home reasons.

The regulation will limit beekeeping to backyards of single family members homes and establish buffer areas, and beekeepers will need to offer a source of liquid at their hives, according to the related Press.

According to an op-ed in Los Angeles days by Noah Wilson-Rich, author of The Bee: a normal History, the repeal regarding the beekeeping regulation is long overdue:

"On Summer 10, 1879, la lawmakers banned beekeeping within town limits. According to Mark Vallianatos, just who shows environmental policy at Occidental College, their particular rationale ended up being honestly preposterous. Having noted the affinity between bees and good fresh fruit woods, they reasoned that bees attacked and damaged good fresh fruit, and determined that outlawing bees ended up being the ultimate way to preserve plants.

"Soon enough researchers debunked this absurd theory — bees tend to be quite crucial pollinators — and by 1917, the l . a . instances had been calling the no-beekeeping plan 'an old and still-unrepealed city regulation.'"

While experts be concerned about the dangers posed by bee stings, followers explain that bees already inhabit the city in the great outdoors. The AP adds, "Feral hives which are discovered in public places are damaged considering worries which they might include Africanized bees — hybrids of tamer European honeybees and a hardier but much more intense strain."

In op-ed, Wilson-Rich counters this claim:

"Hives preserved by beekeepers are less dangerous than crazy hives; beekeepers successfully tame hives through re-queening — the entire process of getting rid of an intense queen and by hand adding a docile queen."

The vote is welcome development to scientists whom warn that declining bee populations, because such aspects as environment change and losing habitat, will damage crop yields, as NPR's Allison Aubrey reported in April.

"even though you're perhaps not a fan of bees or honey, you must know that bees tend to be critically crucial that you our food supply. They assist pollinate billions of dollars of plants each year, from apples and carrots to blueberries and almonds.